D Gray Man- Beauty and the Beast
by Brenna76
Summary: This is my idea of beauty and the beast with Allen and the others from D. Gray man. I assigned everyone to their roles taking into account their personalities and relationships (I especially thought Allen would be good for the beast because of how ashamed he seems to be of his appearance). Hope you enjoy it and any comments, ideas and/or criticisms would be much appreciated.
1. Prologue

Lenalee Lee- Beauty

Allen Walker- Beast

( Lord ) Tyki Mikk- Handsome Suitor

Lavi- Servant one

Kanda- Royal Guard

Once upon a time there was a handsome young prince. He had rich brown hair and lively silver- gray eyes that drew people into them. He lived in a elegant castle in an ancient kingdom called Mater. He had a great deal of wealth and power. Because of this the prince who was good at heart grew selfish and unkind almost to the point of no return. He became famed for his cruelty and ignorance.

One night an ugly old woman heavily clad in ragged clothes came to the Prince's castle and asked if she might stay the night there. In exchange for shelter from the bitter cold she presented him with a seed. This, she explained, was a rose seed and would grow the most beautiful roses anyone had ever seen. The seed was so special that the prince found himself entranced by it though he had no idea what it was that he found so beautiful about a simple seed. Returning his gaze to the old woman, he sneered and looked at her with derision. He turned the old woman down despite her gift. She pleaded with him to reconsider and take pity on her, but the Prince would not budge. He once again told her to leave the palace and threatened to have his royal guards throw her out if she would not leave. When he said this, the old woman's appearance began to change until she was no longer recognizable as the same woman.

The prince was aghast as he stared at a beautiful and young fairy princess. She had silky smooth hair and wore an elegant, embroidered dress whose beauty paled in comparison to that of the fairy herself. The fairy princess radiated power. The prince dropped to his knees and begged her for forgiveness, but she was repulsed by his behavior and laid a curse on him and the people of the castle. Those who lived in the castle would be spared if they chose to desert the prince and leave the castle that night. Those who remained loyal to him could stay, but would be cursed with the prince. Most of the servants left the castle in a hurry that night leaving only the most loyal few behind. The prince himself was not allowed to leave. Though he tried, part of the curse placed there was that those left in the castle could never leave the grounds.

Before leaving, the fairy princess placed an additional curse of ugliness on the prince which disfigured his naturally good- looks. A scar was placed on the left side of his face. It ran from above his eyebrow down to his chin, was tinted red and ran right over his eye. His arm was turned into an arm more befitting of a beast than a handsome prince. It looked like his arm was ripped off at the shoulder and replaced with a more robotic arm complete with a large claw to act as a hand. His hair was turned so white that compared to his, the hair the old woman had almost seemed vibrantly colored. Before leaving forever, the fairy princess turned to the miserable prince and told him that he must learn to love someone and have them love him back. If he could do this, the spell would be broken. Then she left.

At first the prince thought that he could easily complete this, but he soon found that people were frightened of his appearance and hid from him. Fearing him and the curse, the people left the city of Mater and the town grew dark, overgrown and decrepit. The servants and prince could not leave, though. The former prince lost his chance to find anyone to love. It was just as well though as he realized he had long forgotten how to love another. Ashamed of his appearance he locked himself and his remaining servants in the castle most of the time. The loyal servants often tried their best to cheer him up, but he thought of his appearance and attitude and knew he was a monster. He planted the rose seed as a reminder of that night. True to her word, the seed the fairy princess had given him grew the most amazing roses human eyes had ever seen. He loved the rose bush that grew from it and took care of it as if it were his child. He lavished his affections on it as the only light in his otherwise dark world and resigned himself to his lonely fate. He had every reason to believe that there would never be anyone to love him, but he was wrong.


	2. Ch 1: Beautiful Girl

Quite some distance away from the abandoned city of Mater cropped up a small village called the Black Order. In this city the people had never heard of a prince, a beast or an enchanted castle. They were far too content with their tiny, mundane lives for "silly talk" like that. In this town there lived a young girl. Her name was Lenalee and she was the most beautiful girl in the entire town. She had long, black hair that was so soft just looking at it made one feel as if they were floating on a cloud. Her eyes were large and very pretty with a brightness that you may guess was lit by some invisible fire within her soul. Her figure was certainly something worth admiring, to be sure. Her smile was said to be bright enough to light the town at night. It's easy to imagine that a great deal of men pined after her and they were not shy about saying so. One of the more aggressive of these men was Tyki Mikk. He was the most attractive and sought- after man in town and everybody knew it. He was a tall individual towering at six foot four. He always dressed well in either a loose fitting shirt and pants or a fancy suit with his curly, jet black hair tucked under a hat. He was determined to have the lovely Lenalee fall in love with him and then make her his wife. Lenalee herself was unimpressed with him and would have gladly told him that to his face if not for the sake of being polite. Lenalee lived with her brother in a simple, but large house in town. After their parents had died in an accident, they had settled into a comfortable routine. Her brother would cook and take care of the bills while Lenalee would clean the home and do the shopping. Though she never wanted to leave her brother's side (not that he would let her, anyway), she craved a change. She wanted something interesting to happen to her so that she could feel as if she were living for once. She also thought that she may want to fall in love if it were with the right person instead of the shallow and boring men that her town seemed to produce. It was a day not unlike any other when the change she so craved would come.

Lenalee was shopping at the town market one day as it was one of her many chores. Though they often had little money to spend, Lenalee always managed to find a way to stretch a penny so that they could afford plenty. As she was looking over a vegetable cart for the best tomatoes in the bunch, her eyes wandered over to another stall selling jewelry. She didn't usually wear that sort of thing because it wasn't her style and she simply didn't have the money for it. However, this time she saw something breathtaking on the stall. The most beautiful bracelet she had ever seen. It was thick and silver with ornate drawings twirling around on it. Her breath caught in her throat and she forgot to breathe at the sight of it. The owner of the stall turned to look at the staring Lenalee and shot her a glare as warning. This threw Lenalee back into the moment and with an apologetic bow of her head, she left. As she left she sighed lightly. She had so wanted the bracelet, but she couldn't afford it. She couldn't even afford a piece of it. Lenalee hung her head thoroughly lost in sadness. She was so engrossed in these emotions that she did not see that someone had been observing the whole thing and was continuing to watch her as she walked away.

When Lenalee got home, she was greeted by the smell of onions and burning food. That could mean only one thing, her brother was cooking dinner. Sighing in exasperation, she went into the kitchen and put the groceries down on the counter. Sure enough there was her brother standing in front of the stove stirring something that looked like mud. "What are you making, Komui?" She asked trying her best to smile at him. Komui turned around with cooking utensils still in hand and smiled warmly at her. "Lenalee, welcome back!" He greeted enthusiastically. "I'm making soup!" _Soup?_ Lenalee questioned cautiously. She craned her neck to look into the pot on the stove and saw something she thought looked like brown glue. Her body gave a small shudder. "Would you like to taste it?" Komui asked holding out a spoon hopefully. "Well... I'm not really hungry and it's not really my thing," she began trying to think of an easy way to avoid trying it. Komui's hand with the spoon dropped and his head dropped low in a sulking matter. As she watched her brother whimper, Lenalee summoned up her courage and took a bite. It didn't taste so bad, but there was an overwhelming taste of onions. That must be why the house smelled like that. "How much onion did you put in this, brother?" Lenalee asked. "What?" Komui said looking surprised. "There's no onion in that. We're out, that's why I asked you to buy some." Hearing that, Lenalee tried not to choke on the soup. She didn't want to think about what could be in it to make it taste and smell like that. After cautiously eating the soup with her brother, Lenalee set out putting the groceries away and tidying up the house. Lenalee found that she cleaned almost every day no matter how much work she did. _My brother is a disorganized slob. I don't know how he can work like this. _She found herself thinking as she threw away a pile of junk mail from his desk. _And he has way too many files too. _That night she finished work and laid down in bed to go to sleep. When she slept she often dreamed tedious and boring dreams or nothing at all. She thought it mirrored how boring and tedious her life and the lives of the people of her town really were. Though she craved adventure, she was rarely able to dream of it and she thought maybe that was because she didn't know what kind of adventure she wanted. She didn't know what she wanted, only what she didn't want. This night, however, she had a new dream or perhaps it was a nightmare. It started with Lenalee walking in the woods. She didn't know how she got there or how to get out, but she didn't think about that. For some reason, she didn't care. She just kept walking like it was the only thing still important to her. She recognized the trees as those on the very edge of her town's territory. She thought she was walking on what used to be a path, but it was overgrown and rocky from age and from being unused. The trees were all dead and few showed any signs of healing. Low-hanging limbs and clinging shrubbery were evident everywhere, often interfering with her journey. Curiously, every time she stumbled or tripped during the trek, she just continued walking without wasting another moment as if nothing had happened. When she finally stopped she had reached the edge of the forest. The sight that greeted her when she got there was terrifying. There stood what seemed to be an abandoned city. The crude homes were chipping and rotting. Weathered by the elements, some of the buildings had collapsed under their own weight. All the plants in the windows and gardens of the homes had long been dead and there was not a single person in sight. Beyond the streets in the distance Lenalee could see a large, formidable castle with lights burning distinctly inside. She took a step forward without realizing she was standing on a cliff and fell down a deep slope. Screaming, Lenalee shot up in bed. It took her ten entire minutes to calm down after that. At first she had been frightened, but the fear later gave way to a peculiar interest in her dream. _An abandoned city, huh? A mysterious castle._ She laid back down and began to relax as she thought on it. Maybe dreams are now the only places I can go for excitement. _Well, my dream did seem rather exciting. An abandoned city...not bad. It isn't a bad thing, really. Not a bad thing. _


	3. Ch 2: Cursed Boy

p class="MsoNormal"strongspan style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"The Cursed Boy/span/strong/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"The castle was silent except for the sound of boots walking along the corridor. A young man was walking around the dark castle without even a candle to light the way. He knew the castle well and didn't need the light to see where he was going. He was walking at a deliberate pace, but had no destination. Suddenly, a servant ran up behind him clearly having exhausted himself looking for the young man. "My prince!" He called as he grabbed onto the young man's shoulder. The servant didn't want to have to keep up with him. "What are you doing?" The servant asked him, out of breath. "Nothing, Lavi," the boy answered moodily. He was often in a foul mood lately. "Did you have another nightmare?" Lavi tried again. emHe often walks around for a while after he has a really bad nightmare, emLavi thought. As Lavi stared at his back, he saw the boy's shoulders jump in surprise at the mention of nightmares. emAha! So I was right, /emLavi smiled at this thought. emHe's so easy to figure out. My master wears his heart on his sleeve. /em"It was just a nightmare I've had a few times before," the boy conceded. "My lord, if it was that easy, you would not be out here pacing the hallways in the middle of the night." Lavi said sternly./span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;""It's none of you business!" Allen raised his voice in irritation. He never liked to talk about his nightmares. The hardest ones were always the ones where he was alone with not a soul to be around. He would never tell Lavi or his guard, Kanda, that he couldn't survive if they weren't here with him. It was times like this and many more where he misplaced his aggression and took all his anger and fear out on Lavi. Allen thought Kanda was a jerk and they were always fighting. Still, deep down he cared for them and it was their company alone that kept him with his last shred of sanity. Lavi usually took his abuse with good humor or ignored it as he understood Allen's upset. "Fine." Lavi said, exaggerating a sigh, and then said what he always said. Lavi's voice softened as he smiled lightly. "But, Allen, if you ever want to talk, I'm here anytime." For a moment, Allen's face relaxed into a half smile. "Yeah. Thanks, Lavi." Lavi's face smiled back at him pleasantly. "Well," Lavi said,stretching his arms up over his head, "I'm going to go back to sleep. See you in the morning." He then turned on his heel and took off down the hall towards his room. Once again alone Allen sighed lightly to himself. He felt weak for always getting so hung up on his usual nightmare.span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"Allen walked out into the castle garden as he reflected on his nightmare. It was always the same one where he was cursed and left alone. That part was the same as his reality except for the part where his loyal servant and his rather annoying guard stayed. All alone and for some reason that never becomes clear in his nightmare, Allen would become violently ill and die sprawled out in the garden that he spent so much of his time in. Even now, he stood in the very scene of his horrific, stomach- churning dream. The night was dark and only the many statues and plants shared the garden with him now. His servants were both up high in the castle sleeping soundly in their respective rooms. Allen's eyes were rapidly adjusting to the darkness outside and was able to widen his stride without worry of bumping into anything. There were a few stone wolf statues in the garden along with several long dead bushes. Ever since the curse had been placed on him and his castle and Mater had been abandoned, it seemed impossible for anything to grow there. The whole of Mater's plants died off easily and even the animals drew back. Now all that inhabited the ruins of the former town were the occasional squirrel or other small animal foraging in the wreckage. The forest surrounding the place were also filled with dying or otherwise decaying flora and the only fauna is the most vicious kind imaginable. Wolves, rabid foxes and other nasty, violent animals stalked these woods and nothing else.span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"He could not leave the castle grounds, but Allen often watched from afar. It was one of the only sources of fun he had sometimes depressing though it may be. Lavi often lent Allen his telescope so that Allen could stare at the town and forest below from one of the highest balconies in his castle. Sometimes if he was lucky he would catch sight of something living, but it was usually completely quiet and barren. Sometimes Allen would wonder what he would do if he were completely alone, but he could not bear the thought and had to distract himself somehow. Sometimes the sadness and loneliness only served to make him more bitter and angry while other times it robbed him simply of the will to do anything at all.span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"br  /spanspan style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"He was a fool and still is, he knew that, but it was just too much. It had been a long time since he wanted to love someone not since he was a child. The more self- absorbed he'd gotten, the less he cared who he married as long as they either made him look good or helped him in some way with his lifestyle. After the curse, he still didn't care who it was as long as they could help him. He only wanted someone, anyone, to fall in love with him because that woman said that was what was necessary. No, after he gave up the idea of anyone loving him he didn't want to be with anyone at all. He just wanted to wallow in self- pity in his big, empty home with his companions. He never wanted to love anyone, not that he thought it was possible anyway, because he felt it was too much trouble for nothing. emIt's not worth it. /emHe thought as he aggressively ran his hand along one of the garden's statues trying to get some of the mold off of it. emWomen, people, living, everything is just so troublesome. I don't think I could ever bring myself to love someone again. Even though I no longer love myself, I think I've forever lost the ability to completely love another. /emAllen trusted his companions and relied heavily upon their presence for his sanity and peace of mind, but that was different. He felt that somehow through it all he had lost something human in him. The part of them that all people have whether they try to or don't, whether they like it or hate it, they all have it. emThe inalienable urge to love someone and I don't have it. Besides, how could anyone ever fall for me? No one would be happy being loved by me, no one./em/span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal" p 


	4. Ch 3: An Unwanted Proposal

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"Lenalee woke up early that morning having had a surprisingly good night's sleep despite the persistent nightmare the night before. In fact, the nightmare only served to re ignite a spark in her that had been just a dull flame lately. Her thirst for something new and exciting was almost more than she could bare. Lenalee usually rolled out of bed slowly, and groggily stumbled through her morning routine. She would often have to backtrack as she would forget things, or mess up the order in which she did them, and would have to go back and then again. Yes, she wouldn't win any contests for grace and poise in the morning, but she wasn't trying to./span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"This morning in particular, however, she hopped out of bed like a firecracker. She pulled on her clothes with fervor and tied her hair back hastily as she couldn't wait to get out of the house. This was again in stark contrast to how she usually was in the morning. She also put her clothes on without really caring what she was wearing. She only cared if it was functional and often had to look down in the middle of the day just to remember what she had put on that morning. This morning she relished it. She didn't have anything like a full wardrobe with a million different outfits and a million different styles in a million different colors, [ I would like one of those one day ;) ] She did have quite a few cute outfits her brother had bought for her, but she had never thought she'd wear them, as she never much cared if she looked good when she went out. She mostly went out for chores and shopping, anyway. She pulled out a frilled, dark green top and an extremely short black skirt. Using two matching ribbons, she tied up her long hair into two side ponytails. emYes, emshe thought in satisfaction while looking at herself in the mirror. emI certainly feel good. Very good. I think this is going to turn out to be a wonderful day. /emSmiling at this thought, she went downstairs to see her brother./span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"Her brother was cooking again and usually Lenalee would be upset with him for wasting food and money, but this morning she was in too good of a mood for that. "Morning, Brother," Lenalee said in a sing-song voice as she slipped into the kitchen. "Oh, good morning, Lenalee," Komui said happily turning his head slightly to look at her. Giving a slight, but contented smile and receiving one from Lenalee in return, Komui turned his head back to the kitchen stove. Lenalee walked up to where her brother was and peered over his shoulder to see that he was making eggs... or what used to be eggs before her brother macerated them. "Lets have breakfast together today," Lenalee proposed which surprised Komui. Usually Lenalee would make breakfast and then Lenalee would eat in the kitchen quickly and get on with her chores at a surprising speed and Komui would bring his breakfast up to his office and eat it there while he worked. While Lenalee was always rather busy with shopping and chores, cooking and house cleaning, this was nothing compared to how busy Komui usually was. Bills and taxes were only a fraction of the paperwork and files he had to do. Komui was one of the chief scientists in the Science Department, the only place for scientific experiments and advancements in town. He didn't invent many things as part of his job, but mainly supervised and dealt with the legal end of things. As a result, his office was always a mess of files, books and manuals. Lenalee rarely asked to eat breakfast together because she knew how busy he was and hated to trouble him. Bouncing back from his apparent shock at Lenalee's unexpected request, Komui smiled softly and answered in almost inaudible words. "Alright, let's eat together today then." If Lenalee hadn't been right behind him still looking over his shoulder, she wouldn't have heard him.span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal" p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;""So may I ask why you're so excited this morning?" Komui asked sipping his coffee and picking up his fork. "What do you mean?" Lenalee asked. She figured she was happier than normal, but she didn't think she was acting that different. Komui broadened his smile. "You haven't asked me to eat with you in a long time. Aside from that, you seem to be smiling quite a bit more than normal." "Oh." Lenalee said quietly, thinking about the aforementioned behaviors. "Just had a nice dream, I suppose," she said vaguely, but confidently so as to put an end to the conversation. "I see. I'm glad then," Komui said, refocusing on his meal.span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"After breakfast Komui went up to his office to work and Lenalee cleared the table and cleaned the dishes. Once she was done with that, she headed out for a while. She decided to go walking around town and maybe window shop a little. She could use a little break and a lot of relaxation. She didn't take time for herself very often. Mainly this was because she felt useless if she spent too much time doing nothing, but she always had things to do anyway so it all worked out. She started by passing a few stores and looking at the scenery. She was so engrossed in viewing the town that she didn't even notice the man behind her until it was too late. "Good morning, my dear." The calm voice came from behind her. A hand rested gently on her shoulder from behind. After the initial shock, Lenalee easily realized who it was even before they stepped out in front of her from behind. "Oh… Hello, Lord Tyki Mikk," Lenalee said trying to convey her agitation and disappointment at seeing him through her voice and the look on her face. She was irritated having been interrupted when she was enjoying her walk and when she was in such a good mood, too. However, in just the first second of seeing Tyki, Lenalee's brilliant mood easily became dark. Tyki easily recognized how he made her feel, but as he had business with her and not being one that is easily dissuaded, he put on his best and most charming smile acting as if he had no clue that his presence was bothering her. "I was looking for you," he said in a voice like silk. Though it didn't seem to calm Lenalee any as she immediately started inching away from him. Reaching out his hand and lightly grabbing her wrist, he quickly closed the distance she had made between them. I have something I wish to ask you." He continued in a mildly more serious tone. Lenalee was starting to get worried. "O-oh, really?" Lenalee asked trying to contain her worry. "Yes and it is of a quite serious nature," he said and with that, began lightly tugging Lenalee by the arms. "Wait! Hold on a second!" Lenalee cried out desperately trying to assess the situation. There was nothing that could stop him now that he had gotten wrapped up in the moment. He continued to pull her along with him as he took off. All Lenalee could do was worry as she was dragged off with him to some unknown location.span/p  
>p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"br  /spanspan style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Here we are." Tyki said as he stopped and finally removed his arms from Lenalee's wrist. He had brought her to the center of town by a beautiful fountain. This area was popular for fun and recreation as well as shopping and because of the history and beauty of the town center, many couples come here on dates. "What's this about…?" Lenalee started, but before she could get another word out, Tyki had knelt before her and reached into his pocket. "Lenalee Lee," He began locking his confident eyes with her worried and surprised ones. "Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He brought out a ring and held it up to Lenalee so she could see it clearly. The ring was expensive and beautiful. Likely the most expensive ring he could buy in their small town home. Along with it wrapped around his palm was the bracelet she had wanted. She looked at him wondering how he knew about it only to see his knowing smile or perhaps it was a smirk. This look, which she had rarely seen on him, gave her a bad feeling. He had to have been watching her to know that. By this time, everyone in the crowded square had stopped and watched. Many looked happily upon them as if witnessing a touching moment, but all Lenalee felt was her blood freezing. She didn't want this. "No!" She cried out in anger, covering her teary eyes. "I will not marry you! I will never marry you!" With tears running down her cheeks, she turned and ran from the scene leaving behind a dazed Tyki who was still kneeling. He caught the pitying looks from the crowd as they became embarrassed and dispersed. Once alone, Tyki stood up slowly, clutching his marriage offerings in a death grip. emHow dare she make me look like a fool? /emTyki thought letting his anger consume him. emShe will not get away with this. She will not win. I will have Lenalee as my wife and you can bet on that!/em/span/p 


	5. Ch 4: Komui Leaves

Komui had no idea why his precious little sister came home in tears that afternoon. She had burst through his office door crying her eyes out. She could barely talk as she hugged onto him seeking comfort. He had no idea what had happened and she didn't seem able to tell him so he just held her gently, softly whispering ambiguous words of comfort to her. Once she had calmed down, she explained what happened. She quickly went over the proposal and her reaction to it even quicker, but Komui still didn't understood what happened. His sister was in tears and he was leaving later that night to go present his new propositions to the head of the Black Order. He had to be there for her, Lenalee came first. "I'm canceling my trip." Komui said. "No!" Lenalee said, coming out of her hysteria in that moment. "Don't let me stop you. I know this is important to you. I don't want to hold you back." "I have to be there for my dear sister." He said back, not budging in the slightest. "I'll cancel it and stay home with you. You shouldn't be alone right now after the ordeal you've just been through." "You could help so many people," she cried almost before the words were even out of his mouth. "And you've been so excited for it! You've worked so hard! You'll be back in a few days anyway, right? I can wait until then, I'll be fine! Please! Please go for me!" Faced with his sister's desperate pleading, Komui gave in. "Alright, but I'll be back before you know it." Smiling at each other with all of their hearts, Komui and Lenalee enveloped each other in another hug. Through all of his affection for his sister, one major thought surfaced in his mind. _That octopus will pay._

"I'll be back before you know it. Two or three days tops." Komui called to his sister as he entered the carriage sitting down on the seat next to the door. With one hand on the door and ready to pull it closed, the other waving to his sister waiting outside their house. "I know you will!" Lenalee said, smiling happily as if she hadn't a care in the world, but Komui knew she really didn't want to be left alone for too long. Not now. Still, he gifted her with his best smile and pulled the door shut effectively cutting him off from his precious sister for the next few days. He heaved an internal sigh. _I miss you already, Lenalee. _The carriage pulled away leaving Lenalee in the dust, alone with their home. Komui watched through the windows as the carriage carried him through the town. After a while they began to exit the town. The carriage would have to travel for a while to get to his destination. Komui leaned back on the seat in an effort to relax, but he still kept his eyes on the passing scenery beyond the window. Not long after Lenalee came to him crying, but still insisting he leave for his trip, Komui had told her to lock herself in the house for the time being or she might run into Lord Mikk. _So he wants to be my brother in law, huh? Not likely! _Komui was still sulking over the fact that he couldn't protect his sister. _I wasn't there for her when it happened. What kind of brother am I? _Komui thought, dejectedly. He was caught up in thoughts like that when it happened. The carriage driver had taken a detour through a forest when the carriage's axle broke. Specifically, it was the forest that was on the edge of their village, but no one ever went into it for some reason. Maybe the reason had something to do with how creepy it looked. The woods they were in were the most decrepit Komui had ever seen (though he hadn't really seen a lot). It was still a good few hours before night would fall, but in these woods it seemed like perpetual night. The tall, dead trees reached their baren branches up to the sky, blocking out every trace of light and plunging the area into eternal darkness. The area was cold like an icy wasteland and so quiet that even the wind dare not disturb it. The only sounds were that of dead grass crunching under Komui's feet. "What's broken?" Komui asked as he came around to the front of the carriage. The carriage driver was on the ground in front of one of the wheels, looking at it. Komui wasn't very good with simple structures like carriages, but even he could tell that the wheel was broken beyond repair. The top half of it had broken off and and the wheel was currently hanging off of the carriage like it might break apart at any moment. "I'm sorry," The carriage driver apologized wholeheartedly. "I thought that cutting through these woods would save more time, but I didn't expect the path to be this bad to drive on. I guess when they say 'take the road less traveled by' they weren't talking about this one." The man sighed loudly and somewhat pathetically as he finished. Komui fixed him with a stern yet sympathetic gaze. "I can see why you might want to come this way. However, perhaps in the future you could try to think things through and foresee these issues or at least bring a spare wheel." Looking up at him seriously, the carriage driver nodded at the suggestion. "What's your name?" Komui asked him. The man answered immediately. "My name is A. Krory." Komui smiled at the introduction. "Well, Mr. Krory, I'm going to walk further through the woods and see if there is another town. Then I can buy supplies to fix the carriage or send help." Krory stood up hurriedly. "No, sir! I cannot allow you to go alone! I will come too." Even though Krory looked so adamant, Komui tried to persuade him to stay behind saying that he should keep working on the carriage, but still Krory… "No! I cannot allow you to stalk these woods alone. Besides, there is not much else I can do with the carriage until we get the parts to fix it so there is no reason we both can't go." Krory finished. "Alright then." Komui breathed figuring that he wasn't going to win the argument. "We'll both go then." With that, the pair began walking further into the forest in search of help.

**_~ I know the chapters in my stories don't always seem to progress quickly, but I get an A for content, right? ;) ~_**


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